Introduction to Distribution Management

2 Reduced waste: With improved systems there would be reduction in waste and fewer defects in the products. This will help in adding to the profits. Logistical improvements will help in better organisation of physical space required and viable transportation and reduction in the waiting times for the materials required, thus giving lesser room for wasting time.

Inbound logistics today is highly inefficient. Most retailers use multiple systems to manage the process and so suffer from fragmented visibility. Prioritisation and scheduling of orders are done on an ad hoc basis, with little consideration of current demand and inventory, while scarce resources, such as dock door and yard capacity, are often poorly utilised.

Reduced need for higher capacity at the supplier. This would be reduced because suppliers would not need to size their operations to deliver on the “one shot large volume order” and would be able to space these in time with orders at

They even desired to open a warehouse in any city in Australia. Thus, there are a number of Australian clients who embraced the idea. They even asked the company to take charge of their goods from Australia to the different states in the U.S. However, the CEO cannot afford to establish one without making preliminary plans. Furthermore, they looked forward to meticulously design a business strategy or plan to ascertain successful and efficient operations. Described below are the warehouse operations that present the company’s supply chain.

The warehouse needs to understand their role in rerouting deliveries. The IT group must understand their very important role of backing up of data. Because of this, each department should be reviewing their plan quarterly to allow for updates. The plan should be reviewed each time a major change is made, such as a new location is opened or computer systems are converted.

1. Performance. The driving constraint on this project is the performance. The most important aspect of this project is that the warehouse is able to quickly find needed products. Time wasted in searching for products delays our delivery trucks leaving in a timely manner and also means that walk in customers have to wait for an excessive amount of time

Capacity Planning- It is essential to accurately predict what products people are willing to purchase. If there is not enough of something people will be angry and if there is too much of another thing you are wasting money as a company.

Speedup time to market. Because there are more people involved the process of innovation is faster

The quality of the warehouse and the equipments can be improved if we whitewash the warehouse and replace some old machines with the news. The working environment will be polished up and make the work more efficient, meanwhile, will not change the basic operating structure. For example, good condition elevators can eliminate the battle between the shipping and receiving departments. The second choice is finding a third-party warehouse which meets our basic requirements. We can utilize third party to manage the warehouse and reach our goal as well. Finally, we can build a new warehouse near the O’Hare Airport where has ample of land so that we can construct a warehouse fully meets our requirements.

▪ New warehouse would have to be constructed, 2 vehicles purchased and a drivers would have to be hired.

• Advanced warehouse and logistics solutions, including package management and support for both automated and complex delivery” (Lawson, 2012)

In addition, I would design a strategic transportation plan that coordinates inbound and outbound shipments to reduce transportation costs and improve service levels. The warehouse will be designed

Explain the network of distribution centers for the company and how well it reaches the customer keeping in mind the time constraints?

The organization in this study, a multi-billion dollar warehousing and distribution company, has been housed in an old building and will be moved to a new state-of-the-art facility. This move involves the planning, organizing, staging and moving of products from one location to the other. Included in planning needs are signage, warehouse racking placement, warehouseman selector choosing routes, freezer, cooler and dry product placement. Incorporated into this move will be the necessity to deal with contractors who are completing the building as well as contacting all vendors and suppliers to inform them of the change of location and service changes during the two-day transition period. The actual moving of all products will require 16 hours, 30 employees on two shifts at two different locations.

Define what the impact on inventory and warehouse cost would be? Fixed costs are generally a concern with warehousing. Many companies are streamlining their manufacturing and distribution network by consolidating and centralizing their logistics operations. (Ou, 2002) Warehouse consolidation is a key component of the logistics strategy. When the products are high in value and when transportation costs are insignificant compared to inventory and ordering cost, consolidation can be pursued with great enthusiasm. Also, outsourcing warehouse functions has proven to be a good idea when the product in question has a seasonal, cyclical, or uncertain sales nature. One recent example of manufacturing consolidation is Colgate-Palmolive establishing a new facility in Greenwood County. “Greenwood County had a building that was a perfect fit for our needs, offers us a talented workforce and excellent market access” said Mike Corbo, Vice President-Global Supply Chain, for Colgate-Palmolive. (Skipper, 2013) That “perfect fit” comes thanks to